Redemption
by UnholyStatic
Summary: 2 generations of Hogwartians after the Deathly Hallows, a coincidence leads 3 young people to sit in the same compartment on the Hogwarts express. These are 3 different people from 3 very different families, but they will unite...eventually. I'm a lousy summarizer. Read the story, I promise it's at least tolerable. Rated T for now because violence/language, but may change later.
1. The Beginning

William stared out the window of his mum's car as it rattled down the street to King's Cross Station. His trunk, and a cage with a large, black raven in it sat in the rear seat, and he sat next to his mother, who was grumbling about "his kind." Will usually paid her little remarks no mind, for at heart she was a good person with a charming personality. It was just that since his father, Augustus, died, she had never been the same. ..

At last, they arrived at King's Cross. William grabbed his trunk and his bird, and confidently walked through the pillar leading to Platform 9 ¾. He gave a wave goodbye to his mother, who didn't seem to notice. The Hogwarts Express had just arrived, and the steam plew back his shoulder-length black hair. He pulled his things into the train, and found a compartment. Soon a tall, blonde-haired boy stepped in, and asked, with a strong accent that sounded like something from Eastern Europe, asked, " May I sit here?" "Certainly." Will replied. At least this boy seemed civil enough.

Decidedly uncivil, however, was the next individual that entered the compartment. "Is this full? Oh well." She quickly sat down next to the blonde. "They told me everywhere else was full." Will, however, was tired, and not really concerned with her personal affairs. Before he could interject, the other boy, sounding quite offended, muttered, " Well I am sorry zat you vill have to deal vith ze likes of us, your highness," and performed a mock bow, much to Will's amusement. " I never got your name." The boy turned. "Aleksander Grindelvald. You?" Will thought the name sounded familiar, but payed it no further thought. "William. William Snape." He extended his hand, and the boy shook it. They then looked to the girl, who sullenly muttered, " My name is Cassandra. Cassandra Potter." Aleksander raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Will did the same.

After a long trip, during which Aleksander and William had a pleasant conversation regarding their expectations, and Cassandra sulked, they arrived. The castle's lights gleaming into the night sky. Hogwarts. The place William had dreamt of being for year. The place where he knew he could find it. The truth that had been so elusive since he asked for it, was finally within his grasp.

 **So you know, the author's notes will be in bold, for future reference. If you like, review it, perhaps speculate, or even give some suggestions! I'm new to this sort of thing. The next chapter will be around soon enough, I suppose.**


	2. Arrival

**I'm sorry the last chapter was so short, I'll try to make sure future updates contain more content. Without further ado, Chapter 2!**

William looked around at all the other first years. A look of anxiety, perhaps even fear was written on their faces. Will, however, was thrilled to escape his mundane life at Spinner's End, filled with rainy days stuck indoors, and biting cold in the winters. Aleksander looked rather surprised, as if he hadn't imagined Hogwarts would be so magnificent. But then, William supposed, he wasn't from England, so this was probably to be expected. Cassandra, whom he considered to be somewhat unpleasant, just looked bored. Sullen as she was, he couldn't help but see the look of one of the legendary Weaselies in her, scarlet hair and all.

They were led off the train towards a fleet of small boats by a tall man in black robes, with a rather large mustache. "Erhm, come now, into the boats. Maximum capacity is 3." He added, glancing at a large group of giggling girls attempting to pile into one tiny rowboat. Will, Aleksander and Cassandra clambered into one, and as soon as all the students were in, the boats glided smoothly towards the castle. The castle, of course, stood on a large cliff, and Will instinctively ducked as the little armada sailed beneath the ivy curtains masking an entrance to a tunnel. The boats slid to a stop as the tunnel ended, and the first years were led up a flight of stairs towards a great door, flanked by two gargoyles. The tall wizard, who had said his name was Darvis, knocked on the gate three times. Slowly, the massive contraption opened, and the first years were led inside the keep.

They waited for a bit outside a smaller set of doors that Will could only assume led to the eating hall. At last a man with a long nose and bizarre green hair opened the doors, and whispered, "You're on. Stay calm, the hat won't bite, so long as you don't insult it." True enough, as they were led, single file, into the hall, a rather beaten old hat was sitting on a stool, and it appeared to be singing. The sound was somewhat unpleasant, and William couldn't make out what it was saying. After it's song, (if you could call it that,) was over, It began to call out names in a croaky voice that echoed throughout the hall. "Abbott, Maximus!"A small boy with brown hair and large ears nervously walked up to the stool. A short old man plopped the hat on his head, and, after a slight pause, the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" All the students at one of the four great tables cheered and clapped, and so the Sorting commenced.

The hat called names in alphabetical order according to last name, so William had to wait a bit. Aleksander had already been sorted into Gryffindor, at which several gasps were emitted from students, but he received a warm welcome. However his reception paled to Cassandra's, as she had been welcomed with a veritable roar from the Gryffindor students. After "Spanners, Timothy" had been sent to Ravenclaw, and was welcomed by all, the hat uttered "Snape, William". There was a silence as Will stepped, nervously, up to the stool. As the hat was put on his head by the old professor, the hat muttered," _Hmm, yes yes, there is much history with your family in Slytherin...yes indeed. But there is also a fire in you, my boy, one I haven't felt in some time… yes this way is best._ " " _ **GRYFFINDOR!"**_ William was stunned, but he headed over to the table anyways, and sat next to Alek, who gave him a warm pat on the back. The rest of the house welcomed him for the most part, which was something Will didn't expect. He had always expected to be a total outcast.

After a young boy named Randolph Zistain was shown the Hufflepuff table and greeted with cheers, the man with green hair stood up and cleared his throat for silence. As everyone quieted down, he spoke in a clear, but somewhat soft voice," It is my regret to inform you that Professor Drentwood, the Headmaster, will be unable to attend this feast, because of personal matters. However, he wishes me to bid you all a grand new year here at Hogwarts. Thank you." Heaps of food of every kind suddenly filled the plates of the hungry students, and the hall was filled with noise. Will ate voraciously, as he nor Alek had anything to eat on the express. The food was delicious in every way imaginable. After 3 plate's worth of food, he couldn't force another bite down his throat, and stopped to look at the other people nearest him. He spotted Maximus Abbott, who was conversing with another first year he was somewhat certain was Auna Harris. An older boy wearing a prefect badge walked up to him, and stuck out his hand. "Hello, William. My name's Fred, I'm Head Boy this year, I'll be showing the first years to their dormitories shortly. Welcome to Hogwarts."

About an hour or so later, William was lounging on his bed, twisting his wand between his fingers. It felt as if the day had been a blur, and he could not wait for classes to start the next day.

 **As usual, please let me know what you think of the story so far, and please, PLEASE offer up any suggestions you may have, most of you are probably much smarter than I am, and better writers to boot. The next chapter will come soon.**


	3. Initial Fantasy

William sat straight up in bed, his mind unusually clear for having just woken up. He had dreamed something last night, he was sure of it. As it usually was with dreams, however, he couldn't remember a thing. He looked over to his right, where, in the next four-poster bed over, Alek was mumbling something that sounded like, "Hu...ngreh" before falling back over, asleep. Apparently he hadn't slept well. In fact, it appeared everyone his room hadn't been able to sleep at all. After putting on the clothes he had gotten in Diagon Alley, he walked out to the common room. A line of tired students was shuffling glumly towards the Great Hall.

He was pushed by the crowd through those soon-to-be familiar huge doors, and found a seat next to Maximus Abbott, who nodded before turning to the staff table, where whom he assumed was the Headmaster, Professor Drentwood, was tucking in to a plate heaping with food almost as tall as the professor himself was. But then, it wouldn't take much, the man was tiny. Alek sat down beside Will, muttering, "I must say, I had expected a bit more..", and gestured towards the headmaster. Will just shrugged. At the moment, he didn't really didn't care what the headmaster looked like, but he had to admit he wasn't exactly awe-inspiring, being rather short, fat, and with a large grey beard that combined to make him resemble a dwarf. As the other pupils dove into a sizeable breakfast, Will wasn't hungry. He wandered out into the hallway to try and find his first class, Defense against the Dark Arts. After wandering the castle for some time, he eventually ran into a helpful fourth year, who pointed out that William had walked past it twice.

Once inside the room, William noted that there was an absolutely massive menagerie of various creatures, magical and mundane, in cages hanging over the desks. Lining the walls were glass cases containing various artifacts, the most bizarre being a small, black rock and a severed hand. "Early, I see?" William spun around to face the professor, who had entered behind him. He was the same man who had greeted them at the Great Hall before the Sorting, the one with green hair. The man stuck out his hand. "Aurelius Bellamy, your Head of House and Defense against the Dark Arts professor." Will shook it, and mumbled, "William Snape, somewhat inept first year student." Professor Bellamy laughed, and said "You are far from inept, Will. Our research confirms that." Wondering what he meant by "research", Will just nodded. "The other students will be here soon." Said the professor. "They usually have a hard time navigating the castle the first day." Sure enough, in approximately five minutes the rest of the class tromped through the door in pairs or small groups. Cassandra was walking with a pair of nearly identical girls with blonde hair and freckles. A bit after they arrived, Aleksander strolled in with Maximus by his side. They went to sit by Will. After the last confused pupil rushed in, murmuring an apology, Professor Bellamy waved his wand, and the words, "Take out your wands" appeared on a chalkboard Will could have sworn wasn't there before. The sound of rustling robes filled the room as wands were drawn. One of the girls Cassandra was sitting with accidentally sent a stream of sparks out of her wand, which Professor Bellamy quickly transformed into a flock of songbirds, which promptly flew out the nearest open window. "Now, class." He began briskly, "You will learn to diffuse hexes."

He had the students form a line facing him, after which he would cast a low-powered hex or jinx, and the student would attempt a shield charm, which he had demonstrated for them. The first in line was Cassandra. Bellamy raised his wand, and without a moment's notice fired off a jinx. Cassandra shouted "Protego!" which caused the spell to redirect towards William, who promptly dived out of the spell, which then fizzled against a wall. "Try to diffuse it completely, Potter, not just redirect it. Next!" Maximus stepped up. The same jinx was conjured, but this time Maximus waved his wand and mispronounced the spell, causing the jinx to explode, singeing the floor around it. "Almost, Maximus. Work on your pronunciation. You're next, Will." As he stepped forwards, he too late realized that the spell was already hurtling towards him. He unconsciously flicked his wand, and, to his great surprise, the spell disappeared. "Excellent, excellent! Next!" Aleksander stepped forward, and effortlessly diffused the jinx almost immediately after it left Bellamy's wand. "Very good, Alek. Next!"

The rest of the class had less success, but luckily for them the jinx didn't actually cause any damage. The rest of the morning classes, History of Magic and Divination, were completely uninteresting. At lunch, Will still had no appetite. But he sat with Maximus and Alek anyways and discussed their experience so far. "It's brilliant!" said Max, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Like nothing I ever imagined." Aleksander nodded, and Will felt the same as well. "I quite like Professor Bellamy. He doesn't mess around." As the other two expressed affirmative feelings, Will nearly jumped out of his skin as a ghost sailed through him. "Ugh, that felt horrible!" He shuddered as the other two boys laughed. It felt as though all the blood in his body had been frozen momentarily. Trying to shake the dreadful feeling, he spun around, but nothing was behind him. He could have sworn he felt someone touch him, and it didn't feel like a ghost.

 **As usual, leave a comment with any suggestions you may have. And before you burn me at the stake, yes, I know it took forever for this to come out. I'm a busy person, so I'm sorry again if this seems short. I'm a concise person.**


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